Hotels

Choosing a hotel is always a careful balancing of cost, location, and amenities, but this equation is especially complex in Toronto. The city is expansive -- attractions, restaurants, and shops are scattered within broad borders -- so it can be tricky to decide where to base yourself. And accommodations are expensive. While bargains can be had, even downtown, proximity to central attractions such as the CN Tower, Harbourfront, the Rogers Centre, and the Eaton Centre, drives up the cost of a stay.

To help you find lodgings near the destinations that interest you most, I have grouped them by both price and location. Most are in the neighborhoods defined in chapter 4 as Downtown West, Downtown East, and Midtown. I've also included a few hotels close to Pearson International Airport.

If you're having trouble finding a hotel, call Tourism Toronto (tel. 800/499-2514 or 416/203-2600) or visit the website at www.torontotourism.com for advice. Keep in mind that some special deals are available only through a hotel's website. The Fairmont Royal York almost always has an online deal; the Park Hyatt Toronto often does too.

Bed & Breakfasts in Toronto

A B&B can be an excellent alternative to standard hotel accommodations. Toronto Bed & Breakfast Reservation Service (tel. 877/922-6522; www.torontobandb.com) has a short but wide-ranging list of accommodations in the city. Downtown doubles start at C$125 (£63). The organization will make your reservation and send you a confirmation. The Downtown Toronto Association of Bed and Breakfast Guest Houses (tel. 416/410-3938; www.bnbinfo.com) has listings for most of metro Toronto, not just downtown. Bed and Breakfast Canada (tel. 800/239-1141 or 905/524-5855; www.bbcanada.com) has a very long list of independent B&B operators. Doubles start at C$85 (£43).

Summer-Only Stays

From September to early May, the dorms at the University of Toronto and at Ryerson Polytechnic University are full of students. But in summer, many of these rooms are rented out to budget-minded travelers. If you don't mind your in-room amenities on the spartan side, you can save a lot of money this way -- and get a great downtown or midtown location, too.

No Smoking, Please

It seemed like a novelty just a few years ago, when the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel designated all of its guest rooms non-smoking (part of a larger initiative of the Westin chain in North America). Now, it's almost commonplace. Several Toronto hotels, including the Hotel le Germain, the Drake Hotel, the Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown, the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre, the Courtyard Toronto Downtown, the Hotel Victoria, and the new Hazelton Hotel, are entirely non-smoking.

Flophouse Chic

Once a leafy suburb of Toronto (and, for a short time in the late 19th century, a city in its own right), Parkdale had become a grim and depressing place by the 1980s and '90s. Named for its proximity to High Park, it was better known for its drug treatment centers, rundown buildings, and homeless population. No street represented this better than Parkdale's southern artery, Queen Street West, between Roncesvalles and Bathurst. But in the past few years, things have changed. Artists, designers, and young entrepreneurs flocked to Parkdale for cheap rent and accessibility to the downtown core. West Queen West, as the stretch west of Bathurst is known, was christened The Art & Design District, home of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art relocated there.

The march of gentrification continues, with boutiques and bistros spreading ever westward -- and hotels opening their doors to tourists. Both the Drake and the Gladstone spent several years as notorious flophouses, but their completely renovated interiors are now reserved for chic visitors who want to be at Toronto's cutting edge. Their small rooms and relative distance from the usual tourist attractions means that they won't appeal to everyone. Also, while Parkdale is much safer than it used to be, the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction is still located at no. 1001, and as you walk west you will see pawnshops and other reminders of the gritty old neighborhood.

For Travelers in Need

If you should suddenly find yourself without a place to stay in Toronto, call the Travellers' Aid Society of Toronto (tel. 416/366-7788; www.travellersaid.ca). The organization will find you last-minute accommodations, and they can also assist in crisis situations. They maintain booths at the airport, as well as Union Station.